2013 International Summit on the Teaching Profession

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Next week I am attending the 2013 International Summit on the Teaching Profession in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  This year's summit is sponsored by the OECD, EI and the Netherlands.  I will be traveling as a representative of the CCSSO.  ​

This years conference centers on the topic of teacher quality and I would love to take some of your opinions with me.  Fill out the following survey to share your opinions anonymously.  I will summarize all the results (and the conference) in a second video when I return.  Thanks!

Teaching Evolution is Not Optional

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In this video I team up with Keith Hughes to explain why teaching evolution is not optional for high school biology teachers.  I start by describing the alarming results of a survey of high biology teachers across the country, the laws governing the teaching of evolution in public schools, and the importance of evolution in proper biology instruction.  Keith Hughes gives a historical background of the issue including a discussion of the famous Scopes trial.  I end the video by imploring biology teachers to grow the 28%
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Reflections on Digital Aristotle

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In my most recent video I reflect on C.G.P. Grey's video Digital Aristotle: Thoughts on the Future of Education.  The video is an excellent look at technology in education and is thoroughly engaging.  However there were two parts of the video that were troubling to me.  Mr. Grey believes that schools in the future will contain far less teachers doing far less.  I believe that technology is a powerful tool that will make teachers more important in the future.  The educational success of countries like Finland is not built on technology but on excellent teachers.  I also address the concept of videos as teachers.  I feel that wonderful educational videos are like wonderful books.  They can be used by teachers to improve learning but they are not teachers.  Parking students in front of videos and calling it teaching is no different than sending them to the library with a pass.
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The Five Fingers of Evolution

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I recorded the following lesson on microevolution when I was at the TED Active conference in February.  Alan Foreman did a wonderful job on the animation.  It is part of the TED-ED initiative which is linking educators with animators to produce educational content.  The TED-Ed website also allows learners to interact with the videos through questions and further activities.  I felt honored to work with such a passionate group of individuals.
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